sanctions law targeting russian human rights abusers. in washington today, a state department spokesman called the ban misguided. and adoption groups in moscow said it would harm children most. >> ( translated ): today we don't have that number of russian families who are willing to adopt, and the children who go to adopted families abroad are the children that russian families wouldn't take. there must be at least five refusals by russian families for the child to go to foreign parents. for that reason i don't see within this law an improved situation for these children. >> holman: russian president vladimir putin defended the legislation last week, without saying directly that he would sign it. in economic news, a mastercard report said u.s. holiday sales so far have been the weakest since 2008. and wall street failed to get any momentum today. the dow jones industrial average lost 24 points to close at 13, 114. the nasdaq fell 22 points to close at 2,990. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to margaret... >> warner: w